The Hedgehog Scourge
by Novapie
Summary: Scourge has a plan for all the Emeralds. But just what is his plan, and can Sonic stop him, even with his temporary alliance with Eggman?
1. Another Adventure

A streak of green sped by as Tails dodged for cover.

"What, nothing goes that fast except for Sonic, and he's blue." Shadow and Silver suddenly shot into view and to a stop in front of Tails.

"Hey, did you see him Tails? You know the evil Sonic?" Silver asked urgently.

"Huh, evil Sonic?" A confused Tails wondered. "Oh, you mean that green streak?"

"Yeah. Which way did he go?" Shadow was obviously in a hurry.

"That way." Tails pointed north. Shadow shot off.

"Thanks" Silver murmured before following. "We can't let him find that portal." Silver yelled over the air rushing through his ears. "If he does it's gonna be a lot harder to stop him."

"What was he planning again." Asked Shadow.

"I told you this already. He's collected all the Chaos Emeralds. Now he can use Chaos Control to cross through the portal to my dimension." Silver explained.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, got that part." Shadow nodded.

"Since there were no Chaos Emeralds created in Moebius, all he needs now are the Sol Emeralds from my dimension and to return them to his throne. As you know his throne gives the same power as the Chaos and Sol Emeralds because of the Anarchy Beryl embedded within it. If he combines the Emeralds with his throne who knows what kind of chaotic mayhem he could create. We must not let him through that portal!" Silver finished.

"Let's go!" Shadow put on an extra burst of speed.

"And if he opens that portal we'll have the added risk of Eggman Nega." Silver muttered to himself bursting after Shadow.

* * *

"Please, Eggman, you have to help us stop him!" Sonic pleaded.

"Never, hedgehog." Eggman roared.

"Look, he's too powerful for us to beat alone, and if he destroys us he'll come after this entire world including you and there go your Eggman Land plans." Sonic reasoned.

"You're right." Eggman muttered before continuing. "And if I help you . . ."

"Let's see . . . I know, I'll give you all the Chaos Emeralds and a half-hour head start on your next plot." Sonic said.

"That is a good deal. I agree." Eggman said.

"Great, I-"

"Not so fast!" Eggman cut him off. "I agree, but I offer you only this, Metal Sonic and three others shall assist you." Eggman smiled as he said this.

"Who're the other three, some Eggbots?" Sonic grinned.

"No, what is the name of this threat again?" Eggman turned away and began to scribble something on a piece of paper.

"Scourge, Scourge the hedgehog."

Eggman stopped for a moment and looked at Sonic. "What does he look like?"

"Uuuuh, same as me except green with two scratches across his chest, and wearing a black leather jacket with flames on the sleeves and sunglasses.

"Mmhmm, and powers?" Eggman returned to paper.

"Same as mine? Little stronger I guess. Why are you asking all this?"

"It is for what will be accompanying you."

"And that is?"

"This." Eggman stopped writing and held up the paper. It contained a blueprint. A blueprint for a Metal Scourge.


	2. Black, White and Green

"Muahahahahahahahahahahaaa! Finally, here I am, the portal to Nega's zone. Now I must just wait for these Chaos Emeralds to charge and I may proceed with my plan." Suddenly, something to the green hedgehog's left caught his attention. "Huh? Oh. Well, well, well. What do we have here? The Ultimate Loser and the Time-Travelling Slow Poke. I suppose you're here to stop me and steal my Emeralds, am I right?"

"Those Emeralds belong to Knuckles and the Sol Emeralds belong to Blaze." Silver exclaimed.

"Is that so? I beg to differ."

"Silver, we don't have time for this. Let's just beat him and take those Emeralds."

"Wait Shadow, you know we can't beat him without Sonic." Silver whispered quietly so that only Shadow could hear him.

"Your whispering and procrastination won't save you, only postpone the inevitable."

"Wow, he certainly isn't anything at all like Sonic." Silver observed.

"Yeah, Sonic probably wouldn't even understand half of those words, never mind use them." Shadow added.

"Speaking of Sonic where is he?" said a voice from behind them.

"AAGH!" screamed both Silver and Shadow as they looked behind them to see Tails standing there with a quizzical look on his face.

"Miles, my old friend, how are you?" 'Sonic' said.

"Who are you?" Tails asked with a high, scared pitch.

"Tails! What on Mobius are you doing here?" Silver yelled, slightly recovering from his minor heart attack. Despite their calm demeanour both the white and black hedgehogs were incredibly nervous at the prospect of fighting this dangerous foe.

"Well, you and Shadow seemed to be in some kind of trouble, so I thought I'd come and help."

"I see." the evil hedgehog said with a crestfallen look. "You are Miles Prower Prime, the one called 'Tails'."

"Y-Y-Yeah, I am. Who are you? You look kinda like Sonic."

"I am-" The super-fast green hedgehog quickly dodged out of the way as Shadow rushed him. "Oooh, close one Shadow, but not close enough, hahahahahahahahahaha!"

"Oh, Shadow, why now!" Silver shouted after the two brawling hedgehogs as they darted farther away in battle. He rushed after them to join in. Tails held back in fear.

"I guess I better go and get Sonic." He murmured before flying off in the opposite direction of the battle.

"Hey, you finally got here, took ya long enough." Shadow grinned with the thrill of the fight. "Where's Tails heading off to?"

"Probably going to see what's holding up Sonic and Knuckles."

* * *

"I wonder where Sonic is. Well I know where Eggman is so I guess I'll go get him first. And who was that green guy that looked like him?" Tails landed for a rest. "Huff, huff, wow, Eggman's Theme Park is further than I thought."

"Did you say Eggman?" A purple cat with a regal stance and dance-like movements stepped out from behind a tree.

"Huh? Blaze? What are you doing here, I thought you were back in your dimension guarding the Sol Emeralds."

"I got a distress call from Silver, he said that someone had collected all the Chaos Emeralds and was going to use them to cross over to my dimension and steal the Sol Emeralds. I thought I should come over and see what the trouble was."


	3. Great Minds Think Alike

"Oh." Was all that Tails could say. "Well, they're busy fighting some mean green guy who looks like Sonic, I guess that's who Silver was talking about."

"They might need my help! Which way did they go?" Tails pointed back south and Blaze was about to shoot off when Tails stopped her.

"Wait, Silver and Shadow are busy fighting him. They seem to be holding their own but I don't know for how long. Our best bet is to go and get Sonic and Eggman to-"

"Eggman?"

"Yeah, I thought it might be a good idea to form an alliance with him just this once."

"Have you lost it? Eggman's the enemy!"

"No, don't you see? Right now, that green hedgehog is the enemy! We NEED Eggman."

"Alright. Come on, let's go."

* * *

"Eggman, are you done?" Sonic hated just sitting around and waiting. It just wasn't his style.

"Stop asking hedgehog." Eggman retorted. "I'm building robots not- Ah, I'm done."

"Just in time." Tails and Blaze arrived just as Eggman came out from his lab. Sonic looked startled.

"What, Tails? And . . . Blaze?"

"Sonic, what are you doing here with Eggman?"

"Well, uh . . . Tails. Nobody else knows this but, I thought, that," Sonic was clearly not comfortable, "Eggman, might be of some help, this, one, time." He grinned sheepishly.

"You're just as crazy as Tails." Blaze muttered.

"What?" Sonic asked.

"I . . . actually had the same idea as you. Great minds think alike I guess." Tails and Sonic laughed.

"So," Sonic was suddenly serious again, "what's been happening without me?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I wasn't there long. Shadow and Silver started fighting the green guy. They seemed to be evenly matched but, I don't know, the green guy seemed pretty confident. Who is he anyway?"

"He's an evil version of me from another dimension called the Anti-Verse on the planet Anti-Mobius or Moebius. He used to look exactly like me but he was attacked halfway through a super transformation with the Master Emerald and was mutated. He also became a lot stronger."

"Excuse me," Eggman interrupted Sonic's story, "but I have some ready to go robots here. Did I build them for nothing?"

"No Eggman, you're right." Sonic agreed. "Get them up and ready and let's get ready to go." Eggman went back into his lab and came out a second later with four robots. One of them was recognizable to Tails and Blaze as Metal Sonic, but only Eggman and Sonic knew what the other three were.

"Meet: Metal Silver, Metal Shadow, and Metal Scourge."

* * *

Shadow and Silver knew they were outmatched the second this fight started, and now it was beginning to show. They were tiring but their opponent was carrying on like they were a trifle annoyance.

"Is that all you have?" He proclaimed. "I thought you'd be better than this. You know, I expected I'd have to waste the Emeralds' precious energy transforming to defeat you, but I guess I overestimated my opposition."

"Who is this guy? He sure knows how to ramble."

"Who am I? I am the ultimate Sonic incarnation. I am: The Hedgehog, Scourge!


	4. It Was Fun While It Lasted

"Come on, we have to get there before something happens to Shadow and Silver." Sonic said. He, Blaze and the three robots slowed a bit so that Tails could catch up.

"I'm sorry Sonic, I'm just not as fast as you." Tails stumbled and fell to the ground wheezing.

"You're giving it you're all Tails, but we need to help Shadow and Silver. You take a rest and we'll go ahead." Sonic suggested.

"Okay Sonic, I'll catch up later."

"Don't look so disappointed pal, it's probably better this way." Sonic and the others raced off, leaving Tails behind.

"Be careful Sonic," Tails whispered, "that green you is dangerous."

"You guys keepin' up?" Sonic yelled over the roar of the robots' rockets.

"You don't have to shout!" Blaze complained.

"Sorry, but these robots are loud."

"Don't blame us, it's the way Eggman built us." Said the Metal Shadow.

"Wow! They talk?" Blaze exclaimed.

"I guess so." Sonic muttered with a distant look in his eyes.

"Hey, Sonic, you okay?" Blaze asked.

"Huh, wha? Oh, yeah, I'm okay. I was just wondering, what if we can't beat Scourge. He's a hundred times more powerful than me. What will happen to us, to Mobius, to all the Zones, to- never mind. What am I thinking? That'll never happen, 'cause I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, and we're gonna win!"

* * *

Shadow and Silver were beginning to tire. Not only physically but, they were losing all hope of winning. They were trying to keep their hopes up by talking like this was any old fight. But the subject wasn't too happy.

"Silver, I don't think we can keep this up much longer."

"Don't think like that. Sonic and Knuckles will get here soon. Then we'll kick his can."

"I'm not so sure any more. We'll be wiped by the time they get here. And if we can't beat him, what chance do they have?"

"Hm, I guess you're right. Well, it was fun while it lasted. Nice knowing you."

"Nah ah ah. I said we'd get wiped. I didn't say we'd die."

"I hope not."

"You guys need a hand?" Knuckles ran up with a grin.

"Knuckles, great!" Silver relaxed and eased up his guard. Scourge got a blow in to his head, knocking Silver out.

"Damn, Knuckles, where's Sonic?" Shadow asked.

"Sonic, what are you talking about?"

"Sonic told us he was going to fetch you. Ugh!" Scourge kicked Shadow into a large boulder smashing it. "A little help!"

"Right." Knuckles launched an aggressive attack against Scourge. "By the way I haven't seen Sonic." He said as Shadow crawled out of the rubble and resumed the fight.

"That's strange. H-" Scourge gave Shadow a blow to the face but Knuckles retaliated by knocking him across the battleground.

"Ugh. What happened?" Silver asked, rubbing his head.

"Ah, Silver, you're awake." Knuckles said. "Give us a hand?"

"I just got knocked unconscious!"

"So?"

"Just give me a minute" Silver sighed as Scourge came flying back into the fray.


	5. Dark Days

Shadow awoke to find it pitch black and silent. "Uuuuh. Huh? What? Silver! Knuckles! Anyone there?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Grumbled something that sounded like Silver's voice. "I don't know about Knuckles though. Shadow, what happened? The last thing I remember was being knocked out by Scourge."

"I don't know Silver. Not long after Scourge got you I was knocked out as well. The only one left fighting was Knuckles. I don't know what happened to him."

"Well, judging by the fact that neither he nor Scourge are visibly still here, either Knuckles defeated Scourge or . . ."

"No, if Knuckles had won he would have taken us back with him. And he's not here with us, so that leaves only one explanation; they took the fight through the portal."

"Damn! Shadow you have to know something."

"Yeah?"

"I was afraid that, if Scourge got through this portal we might have the added threat of Eggman Nega."

"You're right. We don't have time to deal with an Eggman right now, Nega or not."

"Yeah but, you know what Eggman Nega's goal is; he wants to destroy everything by fusing the two dimensions, and if he gets one of the Chaos Emeralds from Scourge or makes it over to this dimension then he can do that."

"Come on, we better get over there." Shadow and Silver searched around until they found the portal and jumped through.

"Aaaah. Home at last." Silver said.

"Remember, we're on a mission." Shadow reminded him.

"Right, right. Come on, let's get going." Shadow and Silver took off across the Nega Mobius. It was disturbingly similar to Mobius Prime, Shadow noted, though with a difference he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"If only Black Doom were here." Shadow reminisced.

"What?"

"I know he was evil and all, but I remember that he always knew where the Chaos Emeralds were. He could help us find Scourge."

"Would it really be worth the risk? Besides, he lives on the Black Comet remember."

"Yeah, but the Comet has just passed Mobius right?"

"Right"

"Then the Comet should be passing here right now.

"My gosh, you're right! We better hurry to West Robotropolis. That's where the Comet passed last time."

"Go!" The two hedgehogs dashed off towards the North-West. As they were running, Shadow had a strange thought.

"Hey silver?"

"Yeah?"

"I was won- Ugh!" Shadow was knocked away and out of sight to Silver. Silver backtracked to see where he was.

"Shadow? Shadow! Where is he now?"

"Wait, Silver?"

"Huh?" Silver instantly went into a battle stance but relaxed as he recognized who the voice belonged to. "Knuckles?"

"Hey Silver. Where is . . . Uh, did I just hit . . ."

"Uh huh."

"And is he . . ."


	6. Did I Kill Shadow?

"I don't know." Silver said quietly.

"What happened Knuckles? After Shadow and I got knocked out I mean."

"Well, I continued fighting Scourge, but the Emeralds flashed and a huge swirling whirlpool-like thing appeared in mid-air. He jumped through and it took me a few seconds to register what had happened and jump through, but by then he had disappeared. I looked for him for hours and was just going to give up and go back for help when you two-"

"Hello? Silver? I'm down here!" They heard a voice from a nearby ravine.

"Shadow?"

"Knuckles?"

Oh thank goodness," praised Knuckles, "I thought you were dead."

"Pretty close. But you guys have got to come down here and see this."

"What is it?" Silver asked as he and Knuckles jumped down into the ravine. They looked about them at the gaping chasm they found themselves in. They spotted Shadow a bit farther into the darkness ahead of them.

"I'm not sure. I think it's one of those Sol Emeralds."

"Really? Great!" Silver ran ahead of Knuckles to inspect the Emerald Shadow held.

"What is a Sol Emerald?" Knuckles asked.

"It's our dimension's equivalent of a Chaos Emerald." Silver explained.

"Oh."

"Knuckles," Shadow said turning to face the echidna, "you have to go back."

"What! Why?"

"We need to keep this away from Scourge, and the best way to do that is to take this back to our dimension, Knuckles. We also need someone to tell Sonic what happened when he reaches the portal."

"I don't like the idea of taking a Sol Emerald to your dimension any more than I like the Chaos Emeralds being here within Nega's reach, but I think Shadow's right. We need to keep at least one away from Scourge. Without it he can't complete the set and, presumably, his plans."

"All right. I'll go back. But I'm going to hide this and then come back through with Sonic, okay?

"Deal." Silver agreed, tossing the Emerald to Knuckles.

"Good. Don't start the action without me!" Knuckles shouted as he climbed back to the top of the canyon and headed back towards the portal.

"Now what?" Silver asked.

"I guess we head over to Robotropolis and-" Shadow was cut short by a loud screech from behind the two hedgehogs.

"Shadow? Please tell me that was you."

"No. We're not alone."

"Oh man!"

"Shhhh!"

"Don't shhhh me."

"Keep quiet or you're going to get us both killed."

"Shadow, I don't want to die!"

"Shut up! You're embarrassing yourself!"

"I'm sorry. It's just, I know that sound."

"Really, what is it?" Suddenly something similar to a Black Arms worm with loads of legs, terrifying pincers and a pre-determinable bad attitude burst from the ground.

"Yep, Silver, we're dead."


	7. Rob O' The Hedge

"AAAAAAAH!" Was the sound of the terrified scream that escaped the lips of both Shadow and Silver. Unfortunately for them, the only person who could have beaten the giant centipede was already out of earshot.

"I can't believe I have to miss all the action." Knuckles muttered to himself as the portal came into view. He sighed. "I hope Sonic's there waiting, I want to get back as fast as possible." He soon came right up to the portal. He jumped through and found himself back home, it was early morning here.

"Hey, Knuckles. What's up?"

"Sonic?" Knuckles turned towards the sound of Sonic's voice and saw the strangest group of people he could imagine. In fact, he was so worn out by now by the day's events that it knocked him out. When he came to he found himself looking up into the faces of Sonic and Tails.

"Huh? Wha? What happened?"

"You fainted." Tails informed him.

"Y-Y-Yeah, but, but, Metal Sonic and and Silver and Scourge and Shadow and uhhhh."

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold out there buddy. Don't faint on us again." Sonic helped him up. "Yeah, Eggman sent these with us as his half of the agreement on our alliance."

"Alliance? With Eggman?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds crazy," Sonic admitted, "but it was the only way we could get enough fire-power to beat Scourge."

"Are you crazy Sonic?"

"Knuckles, can't you see? This is the only way!"

"I can't be a part of this." Knuckles shook his head. "Here take this." Knuckles tossed the Sol Emerald he was carrying to Sonic. Blaze gasped at the sight of it. "Shadow found this. He said I should hide it here in this Zone and then come back with you, but if this is the way you're going to do it, then I'm gone. See ya Sonic, I'm going home." With that, Knuckles raced off towards Angel Island.

* * *

"We're going to die!" Silver screamed.

"I'm not going to argue!" Agreed Shadow. Suddenly an arrow whizzed through the air, striking directly where it's heart should be, but the beast continued on. "Where did that come from?" Shadow asked.

"I don't know!"

"Well, just keep running!"

"Do I have a choice?" Another arrow soared past and landed with a thud in the creatures head. The creature faltered and slowed but continued the chase.

"No!" Three more arrows lined down the creatures back but it did not give up.

"This is one resilient bug! But who keeps shooting it?"

"I think I have an idea."

"Really who- AAAAAAH!" Caught up in their conversation, the two had slowed and Silver had almost been in snapping of the creature.

"Careful," Shadow warned, "that thing's dangerous."

"No really!"

"Just keep running!" Suddenly the creature let out a roar as an arrow sliced off one of its legs. As it opened its mouth an arrow shot down its throat. The creature came to an instant halt a gurgling sound came from deep within its throat. It curled up into a ball and died. A cloaked figure jumped down from the top of the ravine.

"Who's that?" Silver asked.

"Rob O' the Hedge." Shadow replied. "Amy's cousin."


	8. Seeing Two

"What're we going to do with the Sol Emerald?"

"Sonic, I could . . ."

"No way Blaze, we need you on this."

"I'll do it Sonic!"

"You sure Tails?"

"Yeah, I'll probably just get in your way against Scourge." Tails looked slightly down-hearted.

"Don't worry little bro. I know I can trust you with this big responsibility." Tails cheered up visibly.

"You can count on me Sonic!"

"I know I can, pal." Sonic passed Tails the Sol Emerald and Tails flew off towards Angel Island.

"I'll get Knuckles to help me guard it!" Tails shouted back as he flew away.

"You do that pal!" Sonic paused before adding; "And be careful." He turned back to the others and the waiting portal. "Well guys. It's juice and jam time!"

* * *

The teal hedgehog wore a brown cloak and carried a bow and arrow.

"Fellow critters, are you all right?"

"What did you call me?"

"Shadow," Silver nudged his the black hedgehog, "don't be rude." He turned back to their saviour. "We're fine. Thank you for saving us."

"No problem. To be honest, I did not think I would be able to. That was the biggest sandcrawler I ever laid eyes upon."

"You can say that again," Shadow sniffed his spikes, "I think it spat on me. Can you guys see anything?"

"Ewww!" The other two replied.

"What? What?" Shadow reached round and touched the back of his head. "Oh, gross! That is disgusting!"

"We must move onward friend Shadow. Perhaps we may chance upon a river, so that you may bathe." Rob moved on North-West.

"He's right Silver, let's get going." Shadow jogged after Rob.

"You're just hoping for that river aren't you?" Silver asked before following.

* * *

"Knuckles! Knuckles!" The Floating Island came into view as Tails flew towards it.

"Huh? What was that?" Knuckles looked up from his post by the Master Emerald. "Oh, it's Tails. What's he doing here?"

"Hey Knuckles! Look what I've got!" Tails held out the Sol Emerald for Knuckles to see.

"Is that a Chaos Emerald?" Knuckles wondered. "No, wrong cut, a Sol Emerald!" Suddenly a robot hand struck Tails and another grabbed the Emerald. Tails plummeted towards the ocean, slipping into unconsciousness, and above him hovered a group he vaguely recognised, but before he could figure it out, he blacked out and hit the water. From Knuckles' point of view, it looked as if Tails had just been struck by himself, and that he, himself Knuckles, had caught the Emerald out of the air.  
"Wha-Ah, it can't be!" Suddenly an image of the robot hedgehogs flashed into his mind. "Of course, Eggman! I knew he couldn't be trusted! That robot-making, emerald-stealing, egg-breathed, butt-headed traitor! He wants the Emeralds for himself!" Knuckles was about to take off and give those robots the biggest butt-whooping of their artificial existence when a sudden thought stopped him.


	9. Consideration

Knuckles stood on the island and watched the robots. 'I have always charged straight into action and that is how Eggman has tricked me so many times.' Knuckles thought. 'But not this time, things are not always as they seem. I shall wait, follow those robots and assess the situation. I am not going to jump to conclusions this time.'

* * *

"Aha! A river!" Shadow squealed like a little girl and cannonballed into the water.

"Oh brother." Silver muttered while Rob laughed his head off. "You could have at least let us have a drink first." He mumbled which caused Rob to laugh even harder.

* * *

"Well here we are." Sonic said, looking about his new surroundings. "It's almost creepy to see another world look so incredibly similar to our own. I mean, all the worlds I've been to are relatively similar, but there has always been a major difference, but this one . . . It's exactly the same."

"Yeah, yeah Sonic, let's get going. We have to find Silver and Shadow."

"Right Blaze. Come on bot-heads, let's go."

"Hey!" Metal Sonic complained. "What have we done to you?"

"You're kidding right?"

"Okay, okay. But I mean recently," Metal Sonic corrected himself.

"You know, I swear you didn't have this much of a personality before." Sonic noticed.

"Well, we were enemies before."

"True, true. Still, you're a bot. Not even Gamma was this, this, realistic. Emerl was cool, but he just copied everyone else."

"Well, I'm a lot more advanced than Gamma, and Emerl wasn't made like me, besides-" The entire group stopped because, up ahead, Sonic saw something he couldn't believe.

"Woah! Am I seeing right? Is that you Metal?" Metal Sonic made a robotic grinding noise that sounded like a robot growl.

"3.0" He muttered.

"?" Sonic asked"

"It's Nega's version of Metal Sonic." Blaze stepped forward. "More advanced but fortunately no more powerful, so far as I can tell anyway." Up ahead stood an exact copy of Metal Sonic, but with a black and yellow colour scheme.

"Please, Sonic, I know we where sent to help you but . . ."

"Do what you gotta do Metal. Just clean his clock and catch up fast."

"Thank you Sonic."

"Heh, heh. It's what I do. Move out gang!"

"Move out where?" Blaze asked. "We don't know where to go!"

"Good point. Any of you guys got an idea?"

"I don't know Sonic. If only we knew where Shadow and Silver went . . . Sonic? Sonic!"

"Look at 'em go." Sonic muttered in amazement. Sonic, Blaze, Metal Shadow, Metal Silver and Metal Scourge watched as a raucous of clangs rang out to the clash of the two Metal Sonics. They were evenly matched and no one was getting the upper hand. "Since we're not going anywhere for the moment." Sonic raced off towards the Metals' battle to lend a hand. The battle ended quickly. With Sonic's help Metal wiped the floor with 3.0 instantly. The victors returned to their group.

"Oh Sonic!" A voice rang out.

"Oh no . . . Oh no! Aaaaaaah!" Sonic raced off away from the sound of the voice as the owner came into view. It was none other than Amy Rose. Well, a robotic duplicate anyway. But instead of chasing after Sonic she latched herself to Metal Sonic.

"What's got into him?" She asked Blaze.


	10. Flicky Island

"I thought I destroyed you back when Eggman first built you?" Metal Sonic asked.

"Well, he rebuilt me. And that wasn't very nice of you, you know. Hmph!" Metal Amy replied.

"Oh go home, Metal Amy."

"Metal Amy? Really?" Sonic, noticing there was nothing to fear, ran back.

"Oh yeah!"

"Just as annoying as the real thing, eh?"

"You don't know the half of it! Oh, wait, yes you do."

"Heck yeah, just run for it dude, you'll lose her eventually." Sonic advised.

"Thanks Sonic. See ya Metal Amy." Metal Sonic ran for it.

"Wait for me my love!" Metal Amy yelled, running after him.

"He's lucky, at least Metal Amy doesn't have a hammer."

"But Sonic-" Blaze started.

"Just wait for it." Sonic cut her off. The group stood waiting for thirty seconds.

"Is she gone." A metallic voice came from behind a tree.

"Yeah, you can come out."

"Phew! Please, let's get out of here before she comes back." Metal Sonic begged, stepping out from behind the tree.

"Sure thing, buddy." Sonic grinned.

* * *

Knuckles glided after the two robots at a just-within-eyesight distance. As far as he could tell, they didn't seem to have noticed him and were heading towards Eggman Land. 'I have to get that Emerald back. I just hope Tails is safe with Tikal and Chaos.' He thought. After he had witnessed the robot duplicates knocking out Tails and stealing the Sol Emerald. He had waited until they were a little ways away and had then rescued Tails. He had left Tails with Tikal by the Master Emerald and then set chase after Metal Tails and Metal Knuckles. Suddenly, an island came into view. 'What is that? I don't recognise that island. It certainly is not Eggman Land!' As they drew closer, Knuckles saw lots of tiny things flying around the island. They seemed to be some kind of small birds. 'Ah! I think those are Flicky Birds! I've only ever seen one, but Sonic told me stories of when he went to an entire island full of them. But he told me it was swallowed up by its own Special Zone. Weird, could Eggman have found a way to bring it back? And if so, why?'

* * *

"Are you done yet?" Silver whined.

"Oh keep quiet already! I got spat on by a giant bug and you want me to hurry up trying to wash this gunk off!" Shadow retorted.

Well, yeah! I-"

"Quiet!" Rob screamed. "You two are arguing like little children and it's driving me nuts! You," he pointed at Shadow, "hurry up!" Shadow tried to object. "Don't mess with me boy, I have had enough of this. And you," he pointed at Silver, "shut your trap!" Silver hung his head. "We are on a mission and we can't be fighting among ourselves if we're going to stop Scourge. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Silver and Shadow saluted, Shadow slapping his face full of water and sandcrawler spit at the same time causing both Silver and Rob to start laughing.

Shut up! It's not funny!" Shadow whined.

"It is for us!" They gasped in between breaths and laughs.

"Yeah, well, ugh. It'll take for ever to clean this off again, and I think I swallowed some!" Silver and Rob collapsed in another fit of hysterics at this. "It's not funny!"


	11. Totally Retro

"Finally! I finally got all of that gunk off." Shadow sighed in relief.

"Good," Rob said, solemn again after his fit of laughter at Shadow's predicament, "let's get moving again." Silver still recovering, couldn't quite talk yet, and so instead nodded his consent.

"I agree. I want to get as far away from that river and its memories." Shadow said.

"Not to mention its smell." Rob said, smiling again.

"Let's just get going." Shadow grumbled.

* * *

"Wow! There are crystals growing on trees and plants here!" Knuckles stared around him at the amazing sight of Flicky Island. He had lost sight of Metal Knuckles and Metal Tails when they landed and had not been able to find them since.

"Yes there are, Original. Why do you state the obvious?" Knuckles spun round to see the two very robots he had been looking for.

"Wha- Oh." Knuckles got ready for a fight when he noticed that the one who had asked the question, Metal Knuckles, was not standing in a threatening manner, but had his head slightly cocked to the side, like a curious dog.

"I, uh, was just thinking aloud." Knuckles couldn't think of anything else to say, he was too shocked.

"Ah. I see."

"Um, Metal Me? Why did you knock out Tails and steal the Sol Emerald?"

"That statement is incorrect. I did not knock out Miles Prower, Model 74115, or 'Metal Tails', did. While I did steal this 'Sol Emerald', at the time I believed it was a Chaos Emerald, for that is what I was designed for: to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds. You may have this one back, if you wish, for it is not my target."

"Yeah, uh, thanks." Knuckles was still a little shocked by this turn of events. He took the Sol Emerald that Metal Knuckles was holding out.

"If you'll excuse us, we must retrieve this island's Chaos Emerald." Metal Knuckles and his companion turned and left, heading towards the centre of the island.

"Hey, wait! I'm not done with you!" Knuckles yelled, chasing after them.

* * *

Bam! Bang! Poof! Sonic zoomed around smashing every Badnik in sight.

"Yay! We're free!" A young rabbit yelled as it popped out of its robot shell.

"Wow, it's been a long time since I got sucked into a Zone like this." Sonic reminisced. "All the Badniks are so retro. I mean, seriously! Buzz Bombers? Coconuts? What is this? Emerald Hill Zone? What is Zonic up to this time?" After the gangs encounter with Metal Amy, just as they had been deciding which direction to go in, Sonic had been sucked up by a portal and dumped at the beginning of Emerald Hill Zone. He had decided to do what he always used to do when this happened, and that's how he ended up zooming along the Zone defeating all the Badniks. Suddenly, an inter-dimensional portal appeared in front of Sonic and he had to skid to a halt to avoid being sucked into it.

"How did you know it was me?" Zonic the Zone Cop stepped out of the portal and it zapped shut behind him.

"Who else do I know who sucks me into different Zones to help out the locals?"

"Fair enough."

"So, why am I back here? Are you running out of Zones to send me to or something?"

"Haha haha. No." Sonic looked sceptical. "No, really. I just needed to talk to you."

"About what?"

"All right. You're not going to like this but, here goes . . ."


	12. Time Triangle

"What do you mean we can't fight Scourge?" Sonic practically spluttered.

"It's only if he manages to achieve his goal!" Zonic defended.

"Which is?" Sonic eyed him. Zonic removed his helmet.

"To achieve power not even we could imagine. By fusing the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, Sol Emeralds, the rare Anarchy Beryl embedded within his throne and the Master Emeralds power within himself – which has already made him a hundred times more powerful than yourself I add – do you know what kind of transformation he would undergo?"

"A really powerful one?"

"Unbelievably so. Do you know how wrecked the timeline would become if you or Silver or Shadow died? Even I don't know what would happen, and I don't want to imagine it. I mean, haven't you played Sonic 2006?"

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, uh, never mind."

"Aren't you supposed to be the all-knowing, omni-present, adjacent-to-all-other-realities version of me?"

"I don't know everything! What am I? Solari- Never mind." Sonic was beginning to look suspicious. "All I know is that you, Silver and Shadow can't fight Scourge if he reaches that amount of power."

"What about the others?"

"The others aren't usually playable characters so it's not that bad if . . ." Sonic was looking more confused than ever. "You know what, forget I ever said that."

"You seem to be making an awful amount of 'slip-ups'. What are you hinting at?"

"Hinting? I'm not hinting. See ya Sonic." A portal appeared and Zonic started to disappear into it.

"Wait! What are you trying to tell me?" Zonic was just about gone.

"Just play it through!" He yelled.

"Play it through . . . Wait, how do I," Sonic looked up but Zonic had already disappeared, "get out of here? Play it through. That's what he said, and that's just what I'm going to do." Sonic decided and zoomed for the finish ring.

* * *

Knuckles followed the robots from a fair distance as they slowly headed towards the centre of the island. 'What are these 'bots after? Is there a Chaos Emerald around here somewhere? Sonic said that there used to be, but that it was destroyed.'

"Are you positive your databanks recorded Emerald energy readings?" Metal Tails requested of his partner. 'Requested, not demanded,' Knuckles thought, 'these robots are capable of some kind of feeling and emotion.'

"Affirmative, I am reading high amounts of Chaos radiation." Metal Knuckles confirmed.

"Very well, we will continue." Metal Tails seemed to be in charge. Knuckles took a little offence at this. 'Why does he get to be in charge? I-'

"Woah!" Knuckles accidentally gasped aloud at the sight before him. The robots immediately spun around and began firing.

"Kill him!" Metal Tails almost screeched. "No one must know of this! Not even Knuckles."

"Hey, hey, hey! I didn't come here for a fight." Knuckles yelled while dodging bullets. Metal Knuckles stopped his fire but Metal Tails continued. Metal Knuckles put a hand on his partner's shoulder to stop his firing.

"What do you want, Knuckles?" Metal Knuckles inquired.


End file.
